Shareholders of the British-based Axon Group plc at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in London approved the acquisition of their SAP consulting firm by India's fifth largest IT bellwether HCL Technologies Ltd.
The Delhi-based HCL informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that a London court had also cleared the scheme of arrangement to implement the acquisition by its subsidiary HCL EAS Ltd at a meeting held prior to the EGM.
We are very pleased that the Axon shareholders have approved HCL’s offer for the company
This acquisition continues to make sound strategic sense for HCL especially in the current macro
economic situation, Vineet Nayar, CEO and Member of the Board, HCL Technologies commented on the voting.
"Axon has achieved a significant degree of success in creating a leading SAP implementation services business which when combined with HCL’s enterprise applications services, offshore capabilities and complementary market presence in North America, Europe and Asia will help drive the ongoing expansion of product and service capabilities in the global IT Services sector."
In addition this acquisition provides HCL with scale, significant revenue synergies and exposure
to Axon’s considerable client base where the majority of revenues are generated from defensive
sectors including the UK public sector," he added.
In an interesting move a month after the Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies Ltd bid for Axon at 600 pence per share Aug 25, HCL made a direct challenge to Infosys Technologies by offering a premium of 8.3 per cent (650 pence) per share. Later, Infosys stuck to its fiscal conservatism and pulled out of the deal in mid-October after its board felt the HCL counter-bid was over-priced and beyond its strategic offer price.
